These two little stories dovetail together in perfect harmony irony.  Consider:

Last week, we covered the story of the Chinese government’s reluctance to authorize the sale of Wrath of the Lich King.  The problem with the latest WoW expansion had a lot to do with exposed bone, as the forsaken characters have a fair amount of that showing.  (The pic at left shows the updated forsaken, without any exposed bone.) What’s more, skeletons, newly dug graves, ghoul-like characters, and pretty much everything having to do with the new Death Knight class are all too naughty for the Chinese censors.

Now, according to JLM Pacific Epoch, The9 are claiming they’ll go bankrupt if the government fails to approve the sale of WotLK.  The9, the service provider for Blizzard’s MMO in China, licensed the expansion from Blizzard in April of 08, and is working hard to get the “masterpiece” ready for launch on March 31.  The General Admission of Press and Publication (or GAPP, the oversight committee that censors this kind of thing) isn’t deaf to The9’s plea.  They say “the struggle is finding a balance between WLK’s “unhealthy” content and protecting the interest of a domestic operator.”

In complete contrast to The9’s overseas financial woes, ActiBlizzard is apparently doing quite well.  Co-chairman Brian Kelly liquidated 2 million shares of his personal stock recently, and this netted him nearly $21 million dollars.

Some have speculated that this, you know, means something, namely that ActiBlizzard’s value is about to drop.  However, others pointed out that no other Activision Blizzard execs have followed suit, so this doesn’t appear to be a harbinger of the company’s doom.  It’s simply profit-taking by a single executive.

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